Ziggy Palffy
| birth_place = Skalica, Slovakia | draft = 26th overall | draft_year = 1991 | draft_team = New York Islanders | career_start = 1990 | career_end = }} Žigmund "Ziggy" Pálffy (born May 5, 1972) is is a retired Slovak professional ice hockey player who played right wing for the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1993–2006. In January 2006, he announced his retirement and his comeback from retirement in the summer of 2007. Ziggy signed a contract to play for his boyhood club HK 36 Skalica in the 2007-08 season and continued to do so until the end of his career. He also retracted his decision from 2005 never to play for the Slovak national team again by participating at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver where he was also the flagbearer. In July of 2013, Ziggy announced his definite retirement. Playing Career After a solid season in his native Czechoslovakia and an impressive stint with the Slovakian national team in the 1991 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Ziggy was drafted by the New York Islanders in the second round of the 1991 NHL NHL Draft (26th overall). After two more years in Slovakia, he came to North America for the 1993-94 season. He spent the majority of the 1993–94 season with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles while also making his NHL debut with the Islanders, appearing in five games, though he did not earn a single point. The following season, Ziggy split the year between the Islanders and the Denver Grizzlies. The 1995–96 NHL season saw Ziggy break out as an offensive scorer. In his first game of 1995–96, his team went down one goal, but he would score two goals to lead New York to a 2–1 win over the Florida Panthers. Ziggy also scored 87 points in 81 games and quickly became the star of the Islanders franchise. The following two seasons were much the same for him, scoring 90 and 87 points, respectively. During the 1998–99 season, he was limited to only 50 games but still played solidly, scoring 50 points. After the season, facing financial issues, the Islanders traded Ziggy and Bryan Smolinski to the Los Angeles Kings in a deal that saw Olli Jokinen, Josh Green, Mathieu Biron & a first round draft pick go to the Islanders. He was greatly missed by the team's fans, who at that time saw him as the shining star of their turmoiled organization. With the Kings, Ziggy continued his strong play, often being paired with fellow Slovak Jozef Stumpel and Canadian superstar Luc Robitaille. Injuries (specifically his shoulder) began to limit his playing time. During the 2003–04 season, Ziggy's nagging shoulder kept him out of action for the majority of the season. After the 2003–04 season, the Kings tried to resign him, but when he had a phone call with Penguins owner [Mario Lemieux and gave him his word that he would sign with the Penguins, that ended all negotiations with the Kings. Shortly after the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Ziggy signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins for three years and $13.5 million (USD). After playing 42 games with the Penguins during the 2005–06 season, he abruptly retired from hockey. On January 18, 2006, then-Penguins general manager Craig Patrick told reporters that Ziggy told him he was retiring due to a lingering shoulder injury. He completed his career with 329 goals and 384 assists for 713 points in 684 games over 12 NHL seasons. In the summer of 2007, Ziggy y announced his comeback and signed a contract to play for his hometown club of HK 36 Skalica for the entire 2007–08 season. He became the most productive player of the regular season in the Slovak Extraliga, gathering 75 points in just 46 games. Ziggy also retracted his decision never to play for the Slovak national team again. Ziggy was named to Slovakia’s 2010 Olympic roster in Vancouver and recorded three assists with the team for a total of three points in seven games. In July 2013, before the start of the 2013-2014 season, Ziggy announced that it was time to end his long career. He said he was old enough, didn't feel like playing and traveling with the team after so many years, but also that he was going to miss the game of hockey since he lived for it for almost 40 years. Career Statistics International Play }} }} Ziggy has represented Slovakia and Czechoslovakia in international competitions, winning a gold medal with Slovakia in the 2002 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships after he had assisted on Peter Bondra's tournament-winning goal 100 seconds to go in the third period. Following the 2005 World Championships in Austria, he announced his retirement from the Slovak national team. Ziggy has played in Czechslovakia for the: *1991 World Junior Championships (Bronze medal) *1991 Canada Cup *1992 World Junior Championships He also played for Slovakia in the: *1994 Winter Olympics *1996 World Championships *1996 World Cup *1999 World Championships *2002 Winter Olympics *2002 World Championships (Gold medal) *2003 World Championships (Bronze medal) *2005 World Championships *2010 Winter Olympics International statistics Accolades Czechoslovak Extraliga *Champion – 1991–92 *Most Assists – 1992–93 *Most Goals – 1991–92 *Most Points – 1991–92, 1992–93 *Rookie of the Year – 1990–91 NHL *All-Star Game – 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 Olympics *Most Assists - 1994 *Most Points - 1994 Slovak Extraliga *All-Star Team – 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 *Most Assists – 2011–12 *Most Goals – 2008–09 *Most Points – 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13 World Junior Championships (U20) *Bronze Medal – 1991 World Championships *Bronze Medal – 2003 *Gold Medal – 2002 *Most Points – 2003 Category:1972 births Category:Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Category:Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Category:Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Category:Los Angeles Kings players Category:National Hockey League All-Stars Category:New York Islanders draft picks Category:New York Islanders players Category:Olympic ice hockey players of Slovakia Category:Pittsburgh Penguins players Category:Slovak Extraliga players Category:Slovak ice hockey players